Walls, Marjorie

ORAL HISTORY OF MARJORIE WALLS
Interviewed by Keith McDaniel
August 28, 2013
MR. MCDANIEL: This is Keith McDaniel and today is August 28, 2013, and I am in Oak Ridge at the, I guess this is the Courtyard, isn't it? Assisted Living Facility here in Oak Ridge and I'm talking with Mrs. Marjorie Walls.
MRS. WALLS: You're welcome.
MR. MCDANIEL: Let's start at the beginning. Why don't you tell me, tell me where you were born and raised, something about your family.
MRS. WALLS: I was born in Morgan County and raised in Morgan County. Went to school in Morgan County.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, now, what part of Morgan County?
MRS. WALLS: Around Oakdale.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MRS. WALLS: Between Oakdale and Wartburg on Highway 27.
MR. MCDANIEL: Highway 27. I used to go to Harvey's Market up there on, I think it was on Highway 27 in Oakdale back in the '60, so...
MRS. WALLS: I wasn't there in the '60s.
MR. MCDANIEL: You weren't there...
MRS. WALLS: I was here.
MR. MCDANIEL: What year were you born?
MRS. WALLS: 1925.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. And so you were raised in... born and raised in Morgan County. Now what did your mother and father do?
MRS. WALLS: My mother, well, when she ... when we were young, I had a brother and two sisters, she stayed at home with us. My father did odd jobs, I guess. My mother was a school teacher and then, when we got grown and left home, she went back to teaching school.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Where did she teach? Morgan County?
MRS. WALLS: In Morgan County, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: I want to do something real quick, okay? Do something real quick and continue on... (noises off) All right, so you grew up in Morgan County. Did you have brothers and sisters?
MRS. WALLS: Had two sisters and a brother.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were they older or younger than you?
MRS. WALLS: I'm the oldest.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, are you? Okay. So you went to... Where'd you go to high school? Did you go to Oakdale High School?
MRS. WALLS: Oakdale High School, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oakdale High School. Did you graduate?
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. What year did you graduate?
MRS. WALLS: In 194-...
MR. MCDANIEL: Two, '43?
MRS. WALLS: I started working here in 1945, I think.
MR. MCDANIEL: Five. Yeah, probably so. So you graduated before you came to work here.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, you probably graduated in '43 or '44.
MRS. WALLS: I went to... I got a scholarship to go to UT [University of Tennessee] and I got to UT and ...
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MRS. WALLS: UT was full of sailors. They were being trained to come here to start Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure...
MRS. WALLS: So I went to work.
MR. MCDANIEL: You went to work. So, tell me about how you got your job here at Oak Ridge. Tell me how did you hear about it and who did you talk to and those kinds of things.
MRS. WALLS: That has been so long ago...
MR. MCDANIEL: You know, not specifically...
MRS. WALLS: I just came and put my application in.
MR. MCDANIEL: So tell me about... When you went to UT, though, what were you interested in studying?
MRS. WALLS: I think, maybe, math, was one.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were you pretty good at math?
MRS. WALLS: Then. I was pretty good then. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: So you came to Oak Ridge, you put your application in and you got a job. Tell me about that.
MRS. WALLS: My job?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, tell me about ... tell me about what you can remember when you first went to work, the things that you did and such.
MRS. WALLS: Well, I worked in 9201-1.
MR. MCDANIEL: Which is?
MRS. WALLS: It's the first building in Y-12.
MR. MCDANIEL: That was the Alpha -- That was the first Alpha building.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: That held the calutrons.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: At Y-12.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes.
MRS. WALLS: Of course we had training before we went in there, you know. We trained for, I don't know how many weeks. And then...
MR. MCDANIEL: Then they put you to work.
MRS. WALLS: Then they put me to work, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, tell me about working. So you... What was your job? What was your...? Do you remember your job title?
MRS. WALLS: Just an operator.
MR. MCDANIEL: An operator.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: A control panel operator.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: For the calutrons.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: And I think, today, they call those Calutron Girls.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you were a Calutron Girl. Or you were the first? Or one of the first?
MRS. WALLS: I was in the first group that was hired in.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MRS. WALLS: I think... I can't remember what my badge number was, but it was between 1600 and 2000
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MRS. WALLS: And that was the first ones hired in.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because a lot of people had already been working here, they just didn't have the... they were just building everything.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: So tell me about ... tell me about that, being a Calutron Girl. What did they tell you to do and how many people worked with you, anything you can remember about that.
MRS. WALLS: Do you know anything about Y-12?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes, ma'am.
MRS. WALLS: Well, they had a row of calutrons that way and a row back this way and there was, I think there was ... 48.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were there 48 or 7-...? I know in some of them they had like an oval and each one of those had 36.
MRS. WALLS: These were in straight rows.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, these were... That's right; these were in the straight rows. That's correct. The B... the Beta
MRS. WALLS: The Beta.
MR. MCDANIEL: The Beta’s were in the racetrack configuration, I remember.
MRS. WALLS: And we were Alpha... we were Alpha.
MR. MCDANIEL: And those were the larger, those were the larger machines.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: And those were kind of all out in the open, weren't they?
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: And then you all were kind of off to the side, is that correct?
MRS. WALLS: No, they was a row this way and... and we worked in between two rows.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see, I see. Was it hot?
MRS. WALLS: No, it was air conditioned. (laughter) Had to be.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was it noisy?
MRS. WALLS: Not really.
MR. MCDANIEL: Not really?
MRS. WALLS: No. We were busy watching numbers on those things.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, tell me what they told you to do. What was it exactly you had to do?
MRS. WALLS: We had to keep a ratio, a certain ratio in order to get a better grade of, a separation of uranium.
MR. MCDANIEL: And they taught you how to turn the knobs and adjust things to where... to where you could keep it... Did you have a, like a meter that you had to keep at a certain spot?
MRS. WALLS: We had several. There were several meters on those. Have you ever seen one of those?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes, ma'am. Yeah, I'm pretty familiar, I'm just trying to get you to tell me what it was like.
MRS. WALLS: Well, you certainly had to stay awake. (laughter) But, at first I looked at those and I thought, "I'll never be able to keep up with this." But you, you know, you do.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes. Now most of the, my understanding is that most of the operators were young women, like yourself.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah. There were a few men around, but most... They were older than we were.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: That was during World War II, so, you know, the young men were gone.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. You... So what was it like working there? What was it like, now where did you live when you were working there?
MRS. WALLS: I lived in the dormitory.
MR. MCDANIEL: (coughs) Excuse me. Tell me about life in Oak Ridge and what you can remember about working and living here and all those things.
MRS. WALLS: Working? Worked eight hours a day and I slept eight hours and... We had our little groups. We bowled and, you know, for recreation.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: And that was... There was no traveling... a lot of traveling, you know, because of the gasoline shortage.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. So you stayed in Oak Ridge, in town.
MRS. WALLS: Yes. And when I got a long weekend off, I went home.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, how did you get there? Did you have... take a bus?
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. And that wasn't too far.
MRS. WALLS: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: I guess it was probably 45 minutes, an hour bus ride from Oak Ridge to Wartburg or the area.
MRS. WALLS: Well, we lived between Wartburg and Oakdale.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: That's where I lived and it didn't take, it didn't take very long to get there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. You... So you had a group of friends, I guess. I'm sure you met, you know.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: They say it was a great place to be if you were a young, single person -- Oak Ridge was. What were some of the other things that you did?
MRS. WALLS: Not much of anything else because we worked eight hours and we slept eight hours and if we did shopping, you know, we'd shop.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was...? Now, how many days a week did you work? Did you work five or six?
MRS. WALLS: We worked, let's see... we worked six and then we were off... It was according to ... we worked a week and then we were off for, maybe, one day then we'd start back and work another week and then we were off for two days.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MRS. WALLS: And if we were off for two days, I went home to see my family.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. What dormitory did you live in?
MRS. WALLS: Dothan Hall.
MR. MCDANIEL: And where was that?
MRS. WALLS: Where... what would be there now? I can't...
MR. MCDANIEL: Was it toward the center of town?
MRS. WALLS: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: Or more out towards the east end of town?
MRS. WALLS: It was ... They had the dormitories in sections, D-sections and C-sections and A, and B.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was it over near Jackson Square? Or Town Site?
MRS. WALLS: I'm trying to think of how close it was to Town Site ... and I can't even remember the street it was on, really. (laughter) I don't know whether the street was named or not.
MR. MCDANIEL: It may not have been, it may not have ... But it was Dothan Hall.
MRS. WALLS: Yes. They had, I don't know how many they had in each section. They had A-section -- I mean the halls' dormitory started with A- and B- and C- and D-...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly. So you're from... you're basically a country girl.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you move to Oak Ridge, I bet you met a lot of different people, didn't you?
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: That were, you know, from other, different places.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: What was that like? Was there anybody in particular that you remember specifically?
MRS. WALLS: No, not really. I was just... I was just amazed at the different parts of the country, you know, that they came from. And came to Oak Ridge and, you know, they stayed. After the war was over, they stayed.
MR. MCDANIEL: A lot of them did, didn't they? They sure did.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: The... Did...? Was the crowd that you, I'm sure the crowd that you kind of hung out with were mostly young people like yourself.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah. The same age.
MR. MCDANIEL: Most of the... most of the people that were here were young, at least in their 20s, so... Did you ever have any encounters with any of the higher-ups out at the plant or in your job, or did you ever meet General Groves, or see him or...?
MRS. WALLS: I've seen him because he came through the plant one time.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MRS. WALLS: But we didn't talk to him.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, my understanding is, you had these ... these control ... control operators like yourself, and then you had somebody who was a supervisor, probably an older fellow who was your supervisor. Do you remember who your supervisor was?
MRS. WALLS: We had a lady supervisor.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did you?
MRS. WALLS: Yes. She came from Kentucky.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. Did ... there's stories about things that you could wear and couldn't wear around those machines. Do you remember any of that?
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah, yeah...
MR. MCDANIEL: Tell me about that.
MRS. WALLS: No metal whatsoever. No necklaces or don't go out wearing a watch.
MR. MCDANIEL: How come? What would happen?
MRS. WALLS: (laughs) You might as well throw the watch away.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because those machines were just big huge electromagnets, weren't they?
MRS. WALLS: Uh-huh... Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: And it would... I know there are stories of women forgetting and leaving a hairpin in their hair...
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah...
MR. MCDANIEL: It would just suck that thing right out, wouldn't it?
MRS. WALLS: If there were two in your hair, it crossed them. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? Did you ever do that?
MRS. WALLS: No (laughs) No, I didn't.
MR. MCDANIEL: My goodness.
MRS. WALLS: It was ... it was such a ... there was so many things that was kindly alien, you know, to what I had been brought up with. And a lot of things to remember.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MRS. WALLS: And when you left to go home, you left everything you'd been doing. You didn't talk about it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you remember them talking... when you were being trained, I'm sure, they talked to you about secrecy and all that.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you remember anything specifically that they told you or kind of the general, general feeling?
MRS. WALLS: Well, of course, they didn't want us talking to anybody, you know, if anybody started asking questions not to, you know, to say anything about what you did at work. And so, we didn't.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, did you know what you were doing?
MRS. WALLS: No. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: Like most everybody else.
MRS. WALLS: We didn't know what we were doing until they dropped the first bomb.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. And I'll ask you about that in a minute, but the... So you were living ... You were young, you were single, you were living in Oak Ridge, there were all these other people from around the country that were here. I bet that was an exciting time in your life, wasn't it?
MRS. WALLS: Well, yes it was but, you know, we didn't do that much socializing because of the shift -- we worked shift work.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, so you had to change shifts.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah, we worked...
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet that was hard, getting used to sleep schedules and such.
MRS. WALLS: It was.
MR. MCDANIEL: How long did...
MRS. WALLS: Most of the ...
MR. MCDANIEL: Go ahead...
MRS. WALLS: ... people that I knew worked on the same shift I did in the same building.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: I had a cousin that worked, but she didn't work in that building, she worked in another building. But we never saw each other.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because everybody was busy working and resting...
MRS. WALLS: Well, we were on different shifts.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MRS. WALLS: When I was working, she'd probably be asleep.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. Now what was it like living in the dorm? Did you have... How many roommates did you have? Just one? Or were there four to a room or how was that?
MRS. WALLS: There was... I had one roommate.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. WALLS: Some of them had four.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: But I got lucky. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, do you remember ... do you remember your roommate?
MRS. WALLS: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: That was... Now, okay... So you went to work there, you said what? When? In '45?
MRS. WALLS: No. I went to work in '44.
MR. MCDANIEL: '44. And how long...
MRS. WALLS: The first day Y-12 opened.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's true. That is true. '44.
MRS. WALLS: Yep.
MR. MCDANIEL: So how long did you work doing that job?
MRS. WALLS: Until World War II ended. And, let's see...
MR. MCDANIEL: And the ...
MRS. WALLS: The man that I married came home from Europe.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay.
MRS. WALLS: The boy...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: We got married and I moved... He lived in Petros, so I packed my things and I went to Petros. I worked maybe six months after that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. Until they shut the calutrons down, because it wasn't long after that, after the war.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, the reason I, you know, just quit work was I was expecting a baby.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, exactly.
MRS. WALLS: And that was too much. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, sure. I'm sure. So, your husband -- or the young boy that you were about to marry -- he was overseas, is that correct?
MRS. WALLS: He was overseas during the war.
MR. MCDANIEL: During the war.
MRS. WALLS: Then he came home.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you know him growing up? Did you meet him...?
MRS. WALLS: Went to high school with him.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. So, did you kind of know that when he came back y'all were going to get married or...?
MRS. WALLS: No. We just wrote letters to each other and he came back and I think he was at home for a week and we got married.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? My goodness. So how long were you married?
MRS. WALLS: We celebrated our 65th year. If he had lived, we would have been married... we would be married 68 years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? You know, my mom and dad ...was kind of the same thing with my mom and dad. My dad was in the war, but my mom and dad grew up across the street from each other. But he was 10 years older than her. So he went to war when she was 13.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, goodness.
MR. MCDANIEL: He came home four years later and she was grown up. And they dated for six weeks and got married and were married 64 years until my dad passed away. This would have been their 68th year this year. So... So anyway... So you... So, your husband-to-be came back, you got engaged... Well, you got married.
MRS. WALLS: Got married.
MR. MCDANIEL: Got married pretty quick after he came back at the end of the war and then you moved to Petros, is that correct?
MRS. WALLS: Yes. And that... I rode a bus and, I don't know whether you were here around the end of World War II.
MR. MCDANIEL: I wasn't even a twinkle in my daddy's eye. (laughter)
MRS. WALLS: You weren't even born. But the road from Petros to Oak Ridge was a dirt road. And if it rained, it was dangerous, really.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MRS. WALLS: Because the road went down by... It was on the side of a hill and you looked down at a creek.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly. So you rode that bus while you continued to work when you were living in Petros.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: I understand. Now, what did your husband do when he came back from the war?
MRS. WALLS: He went... He and his brother and father formed a, I guess, corporation or whatever, and they started a coal mining business.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay.
MRS. WALLS: So, that's what they did.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's what they did. The... So, you stayed in Petros and worked for a while until you got pregnant.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: And then you decided you didn't want to do that anymore.
MRS. WALLS: (laughs) I couldn't.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. I understand. Now, did you ever work in Oak Ridge again? Or ever live in Oak Ridge again?
MRS. WALLS: No, not until I came back into Oak Ridge about three years ago.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you? Okay. The... Did you ever keep up with any of the folks that you worked with, I mean, were there any... any long-time friends that you made while you were working in Oak Ridge?
MRS. WALLS: Yes. I lost track of them because there were so many of them older than I was.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: I was only 18 or 19 when I started working here. And the ones that I was working with were, most of them were older than I was.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you remember? You were in Oak Ridge the day that they dropped the bomb and it came out... And it was announced what was happening, what had been done in Oak Ridge. Tell me what you remember about that day.
MRS. WALLS: (laughs) I remember everybody was out in the street, you know, blowing horns and everything else. Were you..? Were you here?
MR. MCDANIEL: I wasn't yet. I wasn't born 'til '57, so...
MRS. WALLS: Okay...
MR. MCDANIEL: But you... everybody was out in the street celebrating. What did you think when you found out what y'all were doing?
MRS. WALLS: Well, we were all amazed, you know, at what we'd been doing because it was such a secret.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. How did you feel about it?
MRS. WALLS: Well, I was glad in a way but I thought, you know, that's a lot... that's a lot of people that ... I was glad it hadn't been dropped on us, really.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. I had... I've interviewed a lot of folks, you know, that were here when that happened. I think the one fellow that I interviewed who kind of ... kind of represents what a lot of, I think, a lot of people felt about it was he said, he started out, he says, "I'm glad we did it." He says, "No, wait a minute," he says, "I'm not glad we did it," he says, "It was a job that needed to be done and I'm glad we did it well." So... So a lot of people have mixed emotions about what was done.
MRS. WALLS: Well, you think about all of the... the young people that that caught.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: Too, I'm glad it wasn't us.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure, exactly, exactly. Well, is there anything else about your time in Oak Ridge that you want to tell me about?
MRS. WALLS: Well, such as what?
MR. MCDANIEL: Any friends or any experiences, any funny stories...
MRS. WALLS: Oh, there was always something funny going on. And I made friends with ...I worked with people from all over, you know, the eastern United States. And I kept up with, oh, four or five of them for years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MRS. WALLS: Yes. But I guess I was younger than a lot of them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MRS. WALLS: And they're gone.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly. Are there any of those folks that are still in the area that you know, that you have kept up with?
MRS. WALLS: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: Not that you know of?
MRS. WALLS: No. My mother was a school teacher and I was working with this young woman that lived in Knoxville. And I was talking to her one day and she wanted to know where I came from, and, the funniest... that was so funny; my mother had taught her when she went to school at Oakdale.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, my. And this lady, she was older than you?
MRS. WALLS: Yeah. A few years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. So what did your parents think about you working in Oak Ridge? They just think that was a good opportunity?
MRS. WALLS: Well, I guess they were glad I got a job, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. WALLS: At that time, jobs were not easy to find. Oak Ridge was... I guess it was good for the economy in this part of the country.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: But, I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't gotten the job in Oak Ridge because there wasn't that many jobs around.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. Did you ever go back to school?
MRS. WALLS: Never went to college.
MR. MCDANIEL: Never went back to college.
MRS. WALLS: Nope.
MR. MCDANIEL: How many children did you have?
MRS. WALLS: Three.
MR. MCDANIEL: Three. Okay. And are they in the area or are they gone?
MRS. WALLS: They're here in the area. My son is the oldest and he's retired now. And my oldest daughter is retired. She was a school teacher. And my youngest daughter is still teaching.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay. So your daughters were both school teachers.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. Well, is there anything else you want to talk about? Now's the chance. Got anything to say about anybody, now's the chance. (laughter)
MRS. WALLS: No, I don't have anything to say about anybody. I'm just glad that ... I was living at home by myself and my children worried about me about living by myself.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. WALLS: Although I did want to stay there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Of course, of course.
MRS. WALLS: Because that's where we lived so long. But this is a nice place to live.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is it? So you're back in Oak Ridge...
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you get out very much?
MRS. WALLS: Every chance I get! (laughter) I like to... I like to... Up until a few years ago, I went to all the football games at UT.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did you?
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. WALLS: I had ... my husband and I had season tickets and when my oldest daughter and her husband moved back to Tennessee -- they were in Michigan for a long time -- and when they moved back I gave them my season tickets.
MR. MCDANIEL: Tickets... Is that right?
MRS. WALLS: So they're using that season ticket. But it... You know, I've had a good life. It'd be better if I was living at home.
MR. MCDANIEL: It'd be better at home, that's true. I understand.
MRS. WALLS: But it was lonesome there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah. I'm sure. Well, here you've got ... there are people you can talk to, interact with every day.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah. And there are some people here that grew up... There are people here that grew up close to where I grew up.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? Oh, okay.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, good.
MRS. WALLS: So, they, you know, course I didn't know them at the time, but we came from the same area.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure, exactly. Well, thank you very much for taking time to talk with us, telling us a little bit about your experience in Oak Ridge and during the Manhattan Project and World War II.
MRS. WALLS: It's... I'm glad to do it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Does it seem like a long time ago? Or seem like not so long ago?
MRS. WALLS: In a way, it seems like it's just yesterday. And, you know, I've often wondered how many people are still living that I worked with.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. That'd be an interesting thing to do. That'd be an interesting... interesting... I don't think there were any records of that, you know, they were so secretive and so private.
MRS. WALLS: I know. Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: So... But occasionally you run into somebody.
MRS. WALLS: I don't think there's any way I could find out.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. I don't think so either.
MRS. WALLS: A lot of people... When the war was over, a lot of people that I worked with went back to where they came from.
MR. MCDANIEL: Came from... Sure. Absolutely.
MRS. WALLS: And a lot of the women were married, that I worked with.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MRS. WALLS: And, course, they were older than I was, so I guess I don't even know whether they're living or not.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. WALLS: But I know one of my best friends that I worked with is gone. She's the one that went to school to my mother.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? (laughter) All right, well, Mrs. Walls, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us.
MRS. WALLS: Well, I enjoyed it. I've lived a long time.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yep.
MRS. WALLS: And this is a nice place to live.
[End of Interview]

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ORAL HISTORY OF MARJORIE WALLS
Interviewed by Keith McDaniel
August 28, 2013
MR. MCDANIEL: This is Keith McDaniel and today is August 28, 2013, and I am in Oak Ridge at the, I guess this is the Courtyard, isn't it? Assisted Living Facility here in Oak Ridge and I'm talking with Mrs. Marjorie Walls.
MRS. WALLS: You're welcome.
MR. MCDANIEL: Let's start at the beginning. Why don't you tell me, tell me where you were born and raised, something about your family.
MRS. WALLS: I was born in Morgan County and raised in Morgan County. Went to school in Morgan County.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, now, what part of Morgan County?
MRS. WALLS: Around Oakdale.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MRS. WALLS: Between Oakdale and Wartburg on Highway 27.
MR. MCDANIEL: Highway 27. I used to go to Harvey's Market up there on, I think it was on Highway 27 in Oakdale back in the '60, so...
MRS. WALLS: I wasn't there in the '60s.
MR. MCDANIEL: You weren't there...
MRS. WALLS: I was here.
MR. MCDANIEL: What year were you born?
MRS. WALLS: 1925.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. And so you were raised in... born and raised in Morgan County. Now what did your mother and father do?
MRS. WALLS: My mother, well, when she ... when we were young, I had a brother and two sisters, she stayed at home with us. My father did odd jobs, I guess. My mother was a school teacher and then, when we got grown and left home, she went back to teaching school.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Where did she teach? Morgan County?
MRS. WALLS: In Morgan County, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: I want to do something real quick, okay? Do something real quick and continue on... (noises off) All right, so you grew up in Morgan County. Did you have brothers and sisters?
MRS. WALLS: Had two sisters and a brother.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were they older or younger than you?
MRS. WALLS: I'm the oldest.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, are you? Okay. So you went to... Where'd you go to high school? Did you go to Oakdale High School?
MRS. WALLS: Oakdale High School, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oakdale High School. Did you graduate?
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. What year did you graduate?
MRS. WALLS: In 194-...
MR. MCDANIEL: Two, '43?
MRS. WALLS: I started working here in 1945, I think.
MR. MCDANIEL: Five. Yeah, probably so. So you graduated before you came to work here.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, you probably graduated in '43 or '44.
MRS. WALLS: I went to... I got a scholarship to go to UT [University of Tennessee] and I got to UT and ...
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MRS. WALLS: UT was full of sailors. They were being trained to come here to start Oak Ridge.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure...
MRS. WALLS: So I went to work.
MR. MCDANIEL: You went to work. So, tell me about how you got your job here at Oak Ridge. Tell me how did you hear about it and who did you talk to and those kinds of things.
MRS. WALLS: That has been so long ago...
MR. MCDANIEL: You know, not specifically...
MRS. WALLS: I just came and put my application in.
MR. MCDANIEL: So tell me about... When you went to UT, though, what were you interested in studying?
MRS. WALLS: I think, maybe, math, was one.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were you pretty good at math?
MRS. WALLS: Then. I was pretty good then. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: So you came to Oak Ridge, you put your application in and you got a job. Tell me about that.
MRS. WALLS: My job?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, tell me about ... tell me about what you can remember when you first went to work, the things that you did and such.
MRS. WALLS: Well, I worked in 9201-1.
MR. MCDANIEL: Which is?
MRS. WALLS: It's the first building in Y-12.
MR. MCDANIEL: That was the Alpha -- That was the first Alpha building.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: That held the calutrons.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: At Y-12.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes.
MRS. WALLS: Of course we had training before we went in there, you know. We trained for, I don't know how many weeks. And then...
MR. MCDANIEL: Then they put you to work.
MRS. WALLS: Then they put me to work, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, tell me about working. So you... What was your job? What was your...? Do you remember your job title?
MRS. WALLS: Just an operator.
MR. MCDANIEL: An operator.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: A control panel operator.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: For the calutrons.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: And I think, today, they call those Calutron Girls.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: So you were a Calutron Girl. Or you were the first? Or one of the first?
MRS. WALLS: I was in the first group that was hired in.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MRS. WALLS: I think... I can't remember what my badge number was, but it was between 1600 and 2000
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MRS. WALLS: And that was the first ones hired in.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because a lot of people had already been working here, they just didn't have the... they were just building everything.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: So tell me about ... tell me about that, being a Calutron Girl. What did they tell you to do and how many people worked with you, anything you can remember about that.
MRS. WALLS: Do you know anything about Y-12?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes, ma'am.
MRS. WALLS: Well, they had a row of calutrons that way and a row back this way and there was, I think there was ... 48.
MR. MCDANIEL: Were there 48 or 7-...? I know in some of them they had like an oval and each one of those had 36.
MRS. WALLS: These were in straight rows.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, these were... That's right; these were in the straight rows. That's correct. The B... the Beta
MRS. WALLS: The Beta.
MR. MCDANIEL: The Beta’s were in the racetrack configuration, I remember.
MRS. WALLS: And we were Alpha... we were Alpha.
MR. MCDANIEL: And those were the larger, those were the larger machines.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: And those were kind of all out in the open, weren't they?
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: And then you all were kind of off to the side, is that correct?
MRS. WALLS: No, they was a row this way and... and we worked in between two rows.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see, I see. Was it hot?
MRS. WALLS: No, it was air conditioned. (laughter) Had to be.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was it noisy?
MRS. WALLS: Not really.
MR. MCDANIEL: Not really?
MRS. WALLS: No. We were busy watching numbers on those things.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah, tell me what they told you to do. What was it exactly you had to do?
MRS. WALLS: We had to keep a ratio, a certain ratio in order to get a better grade of, a separation of uranium.
MR. MCDANIEL: And they taught you how to turn the knobs and adjust things to where... to where you could keep it... Did you have a, like a meter that you had to keep at a certain spot?
MRS. WALLS: We had several. There were several meters on those. Have you ever seen one of those?
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes, ma'am. Yeah, I'm pretty familiar, I'm just trying to get you to tell me what it was like.
MRS. WALLS: Well, you certainly had to stay awake. (laughter) But, at first I looked at those and I thought, "I'll never be able to keep up with this." But you, you know, you do.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yes. Now most of the, my understanding is that most of the operators were young women, like yourself.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah. There were a few men around, but most... They were older than we were.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: That was during World War II, so, you know, the young men were gone.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. You... So what was it like working there? What was it like, now where did you live when you were working there?
MRS. WALLS: I lived in the dormitory.
MR. MCDANIEL: (coughs) Excuse me. Tell me about life in Oak Ridge and what you can remember about working and living here and all those things.
MRS. WALLS: Working? Worked eight hours a day and I slept eight hours and... We had our little groups. We bowled and, you know, for recreation.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: And that was... There was no traveling... a lot of traveling, you know, because of the gasoline shortage.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. So you stayed in Oak Ridge, in town.
MRS. WALLS: Yes. And when I got a long weekend off, I went home.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, how did you get there? Did you have... take a bus?
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. And that wasn't too far.
MRS. WALLS: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: I guess it was probably 45 minutes, an hour bus ride from Oak Ridge to Wartburg or the area.
MRS. WALLS: Well, we lived between Wartburg and Oakdale.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: That's where I lived and it didn't take, it didn't take very long to get there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. You... So you had a group of friends, I guess. I'm sure you met, you know.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: They say it was a great place to be if you were a young, single person -- Oak Ridge was. What were some of the other things that you did?
MRS. WALLS: Not much of anything else because we worked eight hours and we slept eight hours and if we did shopping, you know, we'd shop.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was...? Now, how many days a week did you work? Did you work five or six?
MRS. WALLS: We worked, let's see... we worked six and then we were off... It was according to ... we worked a week and then we were off for, maybe, one day then we'd start back and work another week and then we were off for two days.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, I see.
MRS. WALLS: And if we were off for two days, I went home to see my family.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. What dormitory did you live in?
MRS. WALLS: Dothan Hall.
MR. MCDANIEL: And where was that?
MRS. WALLS: Where... what would be there now? I can't...
MR. MCDANIEL: Was it toward the center of town?
MRS. WALLS: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: Or more out towards the east end of town?
MRS. WALLS: It was ... They had the dormitories in sections, D-sections and C-sections and A, and B.
MR. MCDANIEL: Was it over near Jackson Square? Or Town Site?
MRS. WALLS: I'm trying to think of how close it was to Town Site ... and I can't even remember the street it was on, really. (laughter) I don't know whether the street was named or not.
MR. MCDANIEL: It may not have been, it may not have ... But it was Dothan Hall.
MRS. WALLS: Yes. They had, I don't know how many they had in each section. They had A-section -- I mean the halls' dormitory started with A- and B- and C- and D-...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly. So you're from... you're basically a country girl.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: And you move to Oak Ridge, I bet you met a lot of different people, didn't you?
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: That were, you know, from other, different places.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: What was that like? Was there anybody in particular that you remember specifically?
MRS. WALLS: No, not really. I was just... I was just amazed at the different parts of the country, you know, that they came from. And came to Oak Ridge and, you know, they stayed. After the war was over, they stayed.
MR. MCDANIEL: A lot of them did, didn't they? They sure did.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: The... Did...? Was the crowd that you, I'm sure the crowd that you kind of hung out with were mostly young people like yourself.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah. The same age.
MR. MCDANIEL: Most of the... most of the people that were here were young, at least in their 20s, so... Did you ever have any encounters with any of the higher-ups out at the plant or in your job, or did you ever meet General Groves, or see him or...?
MRS. WALLS: I've seen him because he came through the plant one time.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MRS. WALLS: But we didn't talk to him.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, my understanding is, you had these ... these control ... control operators like yourself, and then you had somebody who was a supervisor, probably an older fellow who was your supervisor. Do you remember who your supervisor was?
MRS. WALLS: We had a lady supervisor.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did you?
MRS. WALLS: Yes. She came from Kentucky.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. Did ... there's stories about things that you could wear and couldn't wear around those machines. Do you remember any of that?
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah, yeah...
MR. MCDANIEL: Tell me about that.
MRS. WALLS: No metal whatsoever. No necklaces or don't go out wearing a watch.
MR. MCDANIEL: How come? What would happen?
MRS. WALLS: (laughs) You might as well throw the watch away.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because those machines were just big huge electromagnets, weren't they?
MRS. WALLS: Uh-huh... Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: And it would... I know there are stories of women forgetting and leaving a hairpin in their hair...
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah...
MR. MCDANIEL: It would just suck that thing right out, wouldn't it?
MRS. WALLS: If there were two in your hair, it crossed them. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? Did you ever do that?
MRS. WALLS: No (laughs) No, I didn't.
MR. MCDANIEL: My goodness.
MRS. WALLS: It was ... it was such a ... there was so many things that was kindly alien, you know, to what I had been brought up with. And a lot of things to remember.
MR. MCDANIEL: I'm sure.
MRS. WALLS: And when you left to go home, you left everything you'd been doing. You didn't talk about it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you remember them talking... when you were being trained, I'm sure, they talked to you about secrecy and all that.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you remember anything specifically that they told you or kind of the general, general feeling?
MRS. WALLS: Well, of course, they didn't want us talking to anybody, you know, if anybody started asking questions not to, you know, to say anything about what you did at work. And so, we didn't.
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, did you know what you were doing?
MRS. WALLS: No. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: Like most everybody else.
MRS. WALLS: We didn't know what we were doing until they dropped the first bomb.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. And I'll ask you about that in a minute, but the... So you were living ... You were young, you were single, you were living in Oak Ridge, there were all these other people from around the country that were here. I bet that was an exciting time in your life, wasn't it?
MRS. WALLS: Well, yes it was but, you know, we didn't do that much socializing because of the shift -- we worked shift work.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, so you had to change shifts.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, yeah, we worked...
MR. MCDANIEL: I bet that was hard, getting used to sleep schedules and such.
MRS. WALLS: It was.
MR. MCDANIEL: How long did...
MRS. WALLS: Most of the ...
MR. MCDANIEL: Go ahead...
MRS. WALLS: ... people that I knew worked on the same shift I did in the same building.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: I had a cousin that worked, but she didn't work in that building, she worked in another building. But we never saw each other.
MR. MCDANIEL: Because everybody was busy working and resting...
MRS. WALLS: Well, we were on different shifts.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MRS. WALLS: When I was working, she'd probably be asleep.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. Now what was it like living in the dorm? Did you have... How many roommates did you have? Just one? Or were there four to a room or how was that?
MRS. WALLS: There was... I had one roommate.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. WALLS: Some of them had four.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: But I got lucky. (laughter)
MR. MCDANIEL: Now, do you remember ... do you remember your roommate?
MRS. WALLS: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: That was... Now, okay... So you went to work there, you said what? When? In '45?
MRS. WALLS: No. I went to work in '44.
MR. MCDANIEL: '44. And how long...
MRS. WALLS: The first day Y-12 opened.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's true. That is true. '44.
MRS. WALLS: Yep.
MR. MCDANIEL: So how long did you work doing that job?
MRS. WALLS: Until World War II ended. And, let's see...
MR. MCDANIEL: And the ...
MRS. WALLS: The man that I married came home from Europe.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay.
MRS. WALLS: The boy...
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: We got married and I moved... He lived in Petros, so I packed my things and I went to Petros. I worked maybe six months after that.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. Until they shut the calutrons down, because it wasn't long after that, after the war.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, the reason I, you know, just quit work was I was expecting a baby.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right, exactly.
MRS. WALLS: And that was too much. (laughs)
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, sure. I'm sure. So, your husband -- or the young boy that you were about to marry -- he was overseas, is that correct?
MRS. WALLS: He was overseas during the war.
MR. MCDANIEL: During the war.
MRS. WALLS: Then he came home.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you know him growing up? Did you meet him...?
MRS. WALLS: Went to high school with him.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. So, did you kind of know that when he came back y'all were going to get married or...?
MRS. WALLS: No. We just wrote letters to each other and he came back and I think he was at home for a week and we got married.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? My goodness. So how long were you married?
MRS. WALLS: We celebrated our 65th year. If he had lived, we would have been married... we would be married 68 years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right? You know, my mom and dad ...was kind of the same thing with my mom and dad. My dad was in the war, but my mom and dad grew up across the street from each other. But he was 10 years older than her. So he went to war when she was 13.
MRS. WALLS: Oh, goodness.
MR. MCDANIEL: He came home four years later and she was grown up. And they dated for six weeks and got married and were married 64 years until my dad passed away. This would have been their 68th year this year. So... So anyway... So you... So, your husband-to-be came back, you got engaged... Well, you got married.
MRS. WALLS: Got married.
MR. MCDANIEL: Got married pretty quick after he came back at the end of the war and then you moved to Petros, is that correct?
MRS. WALLS: Yes. And that... I rode a bus and, I don't know whether you were here around the end of World War II.
MR. MCDANIEL: I wasn't even a twinkle in my daddy's eye. (laughter)
MRS. WALLS: You weren't even born. But the road from Petros to Oak Ridge was a dirt road. And if it rained, it was dangerous, really.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure.
MRS. WALLS: Because the road went down by... It was on the side of a hill and you looked down at a creek.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly. So you rode that bus while you continued to work when you were living in Petros.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: I understand. Now, what did your husband do when he came back from the war?
MRS. WALLS: He went... He and his brother and father formed a, I guess, corporation or whatever, and they started a coal mining business.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay.
MRS. WALLS: So, that's what they did.
MR. MCDANIEL: That's what they did. The... So, you stayed in Petros and worked for a while until you got pregnant.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: And then you decided you didn't want to do that anymore.
MRS. WALLS: (laughs) I couldn't.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. I understand. Now, did you ever work in Oak Ridge again? Or ever live in Oak Ridge again?
MRS. WALLS: No, not until I came back into Oak Ridge about three years ago.
MR. MCDANIEL: Did you? Okay. The... Did you ever keep up with any of the folks that you worked with, I mean, were there any... any long-time friends that you made while you were working in Oak Ridge?
MRS. WALLS: Yes. I lost track of them because there were so many of them older than I was.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: I was only 18 or 19 when I started working here. And the ones that I was working with were, most of them were older than I was.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you remember? You were in Oak Ridge the day that they dropped the bomb and it came out... And it was announced what was happening, what had been done in Oak Ridge. Tell me what you remember about that day.
MRS. WALLS: (laughs) I remember everybody was out in the street, you know, blowing horns and everything else. Were you..? Were you here?
MR. MCDANIEL: I wasn't yet. I wasn't born 'til '57, so...
MRS. WALLS: Okay...
MR. MCDANIEL: But you... everybody was out in the street celebrating. What did you think when you found out what y'all were doing?
MRS. WALLS: Well, we were all amazed, you know, at what we'd been doing because it was such a secret.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. How did you feel about it?
MRS. WALLS: Well, I was glad in a way but I thought, you know, that's a lot... that's a lot of people that ... I was glad it hadn't been dropped on us, really.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right. I had... I've interviewed a lot of folks, you know, that were here when that happened. I think the one fellow that I interviewed who kind of ... kind of represents what a lot of, I think, a lot of people felt about it was he said, he started out, he says, "I'm glad we did it." He says, "No, wait a minute," he says, "I'm not glad we did it," he says, "It was a job that needed to be done and I'm glad we did it well." So... So a lot of people have mixed emotions about what was done.
MRS. WALLS: Well, you think about all of the... the young people that that caught.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: Too, I'm glad it wasn't us.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure, exactly, exactly. Well, is there anything else about your time in Oak Ridge that you want to tell me about?
MRS. WALLS: Well, such as what?
MR. MCDANIEL: Any friends or any experiences, any funny stories...
MRS. WALLS: Oh, there was always something funny going on. And I made friends with ...I worked with people from all over, you know, the eastern United States. And I kept up with, oh, four or five of them for years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right?
MRS. WALLS: Yes. But I guess I was younger than a lot of them.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right.
MRS. WALLS: And they're gone.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, exactly. Are there any of those folks that are still in the area that you know, that you have kept up with?
MRS. WALLS: No.
MR. MCDANIEL: Not that you know of?
MRS. WALLS: No. My mother was a school teacher and I was working with this young woman that lived in Knoxville. And I was talking to her one day and she wanted to know where I came from, and, the funniest... that was so funny; my mother had taught her when she went to school at Oakdale.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is that right?
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, my. And this lady, she was older than you?
MRS. WALLS: Yeah. A few years.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. So what did your parents think about you working in Oak Ridge? They just think that was a good opportunity?
MRS. WALLS: Well, I guess they were glad I got a job, you know.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. WALLS: At that time, jobs were not easy to find. Oak Ridge was... I guess it was good for the economy in this part of the country.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right.
MRS. WALLS: But, I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't gotten the job in Oak Ridge because there wasn't that many jobs around.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure. Did you ever go back to school?
MRS. WALLS: Never went to college.
MR. MCDANIEL: Never went back to college.
MRS. WALLS: Nope.
MR. MCDANIEL: How many children did you have?
MRS. WALLS: Three.
MR. MCDANIEL: Three. Okay. And are they in the area or are they gone?
MRS. WALLS: They're here in the area. My son is the oldest and he's retired now. And my oldest daughter is retired. She was a school teacher. And my youngest daughter is still teaching.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, okay. So your daughters were both school teachers.
MRS. WALLS: Yes.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. Well, is there anything else you want to talk about? Now's the chance. Got anything to say about anybody, now's the chance. (laughter)
MRS. WALLS: No, I don't have anything to say about anybody. I'm just glad that ... I was living at home by myself and my children worried about me about living by myself.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. WALLS: Although I did want to stay there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Of course, of course.
MRS. WALLS: Because that's where we lived so long. But this is a nice place to live.
MR. MCDANIEL: Is it? So you're back in Oak Ridge...
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Do you get out very much?
MRS. WALLS: Every chance I get! (laughter) I like to... I like to... Up until a few years ago, I went to all the football games at UT.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, did you?
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay.
MRS. WALLS: I had ... my husband and I had season tickets and when my oldest daughter and her husband moved back to Tennessee -- they were in Michigan for a long time -- and when they moved back I gave them my season tickets.
MR. MCDANIEL: Tickets... Is that right?
MRS. WALLS: So they're using that season ticket. But it... You know, I've had a good life. It'd be better if I was living at home.
MR. MCDANIEL: It'd be better at home, that's true. I understand.
MRS. WALLS: But it was lonesome there.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yeah. I'm sure. Well, here you've got ... there are people you can talk to, interact with every day.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah. And there are some people here that grew up... There are people here that grew up close to where I grew up.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? Oh, okay.
MRS. WALLS: Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: Well, good.
MRS. WALLS: So, they, you know, course I didn't know them at the time, but we came from the same area.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure, sure, exactly. Well, thank you very much for taking time to talk with us, telling us a little bit about your experience in Oak Ridge and during the Manhattan Project and World War II.
MRS. WALLS: It's... I'm glad to do it.
MR. MCDANIEL: Does it seem like a long time ago? Or seem like not so long ago?
MRS. WALLS: In a way, it seems like it's just yesterday. And, you know, I've often wondered how many people are still living that I worked with.
MR. MCDANIEL: Right, right. That'd be an interesting thing to do. That'd be an interesting... interesting... I don't think there were any records of that, you know, they were so secretive and so private.
MRS. WALLS: I know. Yeah.
MR. MCDANIEL: So... But occasionally you run into somebody.
MRS. WALLS: I don't think there's any way I could find out.
MR. MCDANIEL: Okay. I don't think so either.
MRS. WALLS: A lot of people... When the war was over, a lot of people that I worked with went back to where they came from.
MR. MCDANIEL: Came from... Sure. Absolutely.
MRS. WALLS: And a lot of the women were married, that I worked with.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, really?
MRS. WALLS: And, course, they were older than I was, so I guess I don't even know whether they're living or not.
MR. MCDANIEL: Sure.
MRS. WALLS: But I know one of my best friends that I worked with is gone. She's the one that went to school to my mother.
MR. MCDANIEL: Oh, is that right? (laughter) All right, well, Mrs. Walls, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us.
MRS. WALLS: Well, I enjoyed it. I've lived a long time.
MR. MCDANIEL: Yep.
MRS. WALLS: And this is a nice place to live.
[End of Interview]